Joint Committee for Refugees in Gaza on Wednesday called on UNRWA’s commissioner-general Pierre Krähenbühl to solve problems related to UNRWA’s services to the refugees living in the Gaza Strip.

During a protest at UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza, the Committee called in a statement on the Agency to provide jobs and relief for refugees in Gaza in accordance with the mission for which it was established based on a UN resolution in 1948.

With regard to the employment services, the Committee affirmed that the number of vacancies in UNRWA’s institutions in 2017 reached 349, 286 of which were in the education sector. However, the Agency’s administration had recruited only 250 employees, including 215 teachers, which means that there are 99 vacancies left.

The Committee asked UNRWA to fill vacancies by employing new graduates, engage refugees in temporary employment programs and provide its employees with permanent jobs instead of fixed-term positions.

The statement stressed that UNRWA schools must comply with the curriculum set by the Palestinian Ministry of Education without changing any of the terms that reflect the Palestinian national identity.

As for the power crisis plaguing the besieged Gaza Strip, the Committee demanded UNRWA’s administration to assume its responsibilities toward the refugee community in the coastal enclave and help solve the crisis.

It concluded the statement by noting that UNRWA’s financial deficit, which amounted to $126 million in 2017, is not the responsibility of the Palestinian refugees but the responsibility of the international community and the United Nations which decided to establish UNRWA to help refugees.